Dag Trygsland Hoelseth

18 January 2019

The 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State/King) of Malaysia, Muhammad V, Sultan of Kelantan, abdicated on 6 January 2019 and returned to his home state of Kelantan, while the Deputy Head of State, the Sultan of Perak, in accordance with the Constitution stayed in the capital to exercise the functions of the Yang di-pertuan Agong until the Conference of Rulers elected the new King. The election will take place on Thursday 24 January 2019.

Malaysia has a rotation system by which the king is elected for a five-year-period among the 9 rulers. At the time of the abdication, The Straits Timeswrote that «[...] the next in line is Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang, 88, followed by Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, 60, and then Sultan Nazrin Shah from Perak, 62. Sultan Ahmad Shah is not in good health and his son has been Regent for two years.»

Since my blog article of 7 January, I haven't really paid enough attention to the news from Malaysia. Today I learnt that the Sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Shah, b. 1930, abdicated the sultanate throne on 15 January 2019 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah. Ahmad Shah became Sultan of Pahang in 1974 and served as the 7th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 1979 to 1984. His son Abdullah, b. 1959, had the role as regent in the meantime.

The Straits Times wrote on 15 January that «The installation of Sultan Abdullah puts him in line to become the next
Malaysian constitutional ruler under the rotation system practised by
the nine Malay royal houses.» Next Thursday we will know for sure.

The Royal Norwegian Court announced today that Princess Ingrid Alexandra will be confirmed in the Palace Chapel at the Royal Palace on Saturday 31 August 2019.

According to the press release, the princess is receiving her confirmation instruction with Asker Church congregation under the direction of Provost Tor Øystein Vaaland and acting Vicar Karoline Astrup.

The confirmation service in the Palace Chapel will be led by the Bishop of Oslo, Kari Veiteberg, and the Praeses of the Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien.

The christening of Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who turns 15 on Monday 21 January 2019, took place in the Palace Chapel on Saturday 17 April 2004. She was carried to the christening font by her grandfather, King Harald. Her other sponsors were King Felipe of Spain (then Prince of Asturias), Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, her aunt Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her grandmother Marit Tjessem.

The front cover of the latest issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly (no. 4, 2018) is blue and beautiful, and in the photo we can se the royal family of Montenegro in around 1910, the year when the principality was declared a kingdom. I have happy memories of my visit to Montenegro and the former capital of Cetinje in 2009. I will come back to this later in the blog article.

So, what is on the mind of the editor, Ted Rosvall, this time? He starts with mentioning the 100th birthday of Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuss and then lists other royals (by birth or by marriage) who reached the same milestone. Members of royal as well as princely and mediatized families are included. Strictly speaking I wouldn't have included Elsa Cedergreen, née Bernadotte Countess of Wisborg, as she was only a decendant of the Swedish royal family, but I will leave it at that.

The first article, 'The Blue Flower' a Romanian Mystery, is written by the magazine's historical consultant, Charlotte Zeepvat. She writes about, and make extracts, of a collection of postcards signed by «Floare Albastra».While her identity is never disclosed, she obviously was close to the Romanian royal family and court.

Then Ove Mogensen follows up with the second part of his series Tombs, Graves and Monuments. Burial Places of the Bonaparte Dynasty. My, my, hasn't he been all over the place! Would love to visit some of the places as well as the graves he has visited.

Another regular contributor, Marlene A. Eilers Koenig, has researched and written the story of the American-born Nonnie May Stewart (1878–1923), who in 1920 married Prince Christopher of Greece (1888–1940), youngest son of King George I and Queen Olga, née Grand Princess of Russia. Prince Christopher was her third husband. Funny how she lied about her age to make her closer in age to her husband. As of today, her Findagrave.com entry still gives her birth year as 1883 ...

The front cover photo obviously reveals which royal family Charlotte Zeepvat will cover this time in her Family Album series. I find the history of the former royal familiy of Montenegro to be one of the most fascinating ones, and once again I cannot say how much I enjoyed my visit in 2009, three years after the former monarchy regained its independence. Following a 3 pages long historical introduction, the readers can enjoy 61 illustrations besides the photo of the royal palace and a map. And of course, there is a genealogical table as well.

Here is a small collection from my own visit to Cetinje in 2009, the first two shows the royal palace, the third was taken of the chapel in which King Nikola I and Queen Milena were reburied in 1989. I was not allowed to take photos inside. The last two photos show the birth house of King Nikola in the village of Njeguši. There is a museum inside.

The royal palace in Cetinje is open for tours, but you are not allowed to visit by your own, only groups are allowed. At least that was the case in 2009. So I had to wait half an hour or so until a group of Russian tourists arrived and I could join them for the sightseeing. I was the only one who left money in the book shop, though. I bought lots of cards as well as the book The Court of King Nikola by Milan Jovićević, Anđe Kapičić and Tatjana Jović, published by The National Museum of Montenegro, Cetinje in 1999.

Of course I took loads of photos during my visit to Cetinje (and other royalty-related places), including many tombs, but I will have to come back with another article on this later on. It is on time, considering the fact that it is close to 10 years since my visit! Then again, my visit to Norse, Texas in 2005 was covered as late as in 2018, so I guess it is never too late ...

Returning to the article and specifically the genealogical table for a minute, I note that Zeepvat and Rosvall list two daughters of Prince Boris of Montenegro, Milena, b. 2008, and Antonia, birth year not given, while An Online Gotha only mentions Milena. Has the birth of Antonia never been officially confirmed? I know that it is almost impossible to get any news or any information at all about the present head of the royal family, Prince Nikola, and his children and grandchildren. With no male heirs (after Boris) in sight, the house seems destined to die out with him.

The article The November 1918 Abdications, part I by Bearn Bilker gives a presentation of abdications of Emperor Wilhelm II and the monarchs of the various kingdoms, duchies and principalities of the German Empire. It was a good idea to write such an article, and I look forward to the follow-ups.

I have never really understood the fascination for Sisi, the Empress of Austria (1837–1898). I think other members of the imperial family of Austria are far more interesting. But of course there are many aspects of Empress Elisabeth's life which are interesting to pay attention to, and the story of her property at Corfu, Greece, A Fairytale Palace on Corfu. I: The Achilleion and Empress Elisabeth of Austria by Stefan Haderer, is at least new to me and is worth reading.

Then Coryne Hall is back with her Little-Known Royals series, this time writing about Princess Therese of Bavaria (1850–1925), younger (and only) sister of King Ludwig III. I have earlier put a question marks of some of the royals covered in this series, but Princess Therese certainly deserves to be included. But I am sure there are many Bavaria experts out there who will disagree with me ...

Last, but not least, The World Wide Web of Royalty column, is put at the end of the magazine again. The column lists genealogical news of the Imperial, Royal, Princely and/or mediatized families of Europe and this time we are treated with news from Austria, France, Reuss, Romania, Schönburg-Hartenstein, Sweden and Two Sicilies.

Now I just have to remember to renew my subscription!

Information on Royalty Digest Quarterly can be found at its editor's website Royalbooks.se. See earlier presentation of RDQ here. See also its Facebook page.

7 January 2019

Following the abdication of the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State/King) of Malaysia, Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, yesterday, the Conference of Rulers decided today that the new king would be elected in a special meeting on Thursday 24 January 2019.

According to Thestar.com, the meeting was attended by the rulers from Terengganu, Perlis, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perak and Kedah. The Sultan of Selangor was abroad, while the Sultan of Pahang felt unwell and therefore stayed home. A special meeting for the swearing-in ceremony for the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong will be held on Thursday 31 January 2019.

No official explanation for the king's decision to abdicate has been given, but The Straits Timespoints to the complaints made by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in June last year, alleging that «Sultan Muhammad had not abided by the rule of law in delaying his installation as Premier and the appointment of a new Attorney-General». The events had caused debate and allegedly damaged the royal institution, something some of the Malay rulers were unhappy about. The final straw was supposedly the King's wedding to a 25-year-old Russian model (Oksana Voevodina, following convertion to Islam renamed Rihana Oxana Gorbatenko) while he was on sick leave last fall.

6 January 2019

Here is a survey of the articles I have written and got published during 2018. Both articles (book reviews) were published in Genealogen, the newsletter of Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, the Norwegian Genealogical Society.

I have also helped out with proofreading all issues of Genealogen and Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift published in 2018. My bibliography, although still not complete, can be viewed here.

I have mentioned earlier in my blog that I am one of the administrators of Slektshistoriewiki, the Norwegian genealogy wiki, which is administered by Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening (the Norwegian Genealogical Society). Besides administration work I have contributed with many articles over the years.

Here are some (but far from all) of the articles I written (both
initiated and written most, if not all, of the updates) during 2018:

The articles above come in addition to the updating of many articles which I have initiated earlier. I am mostly proud of finishing (with the help of others) the project Ordliste for ættegranskere (bok) («Dictionary for genealogists»), which was started in 2015. Cato Krag-Rønne published the dictionary in 1946. He had made a collection of explanations to words and expressions which one encounters during genealogy research. We got the permission from Krag-Rønne's daughter, Bodil Gjetanger, to add all the explanations to the wiki. It took a while to finish the project, though, but I am pleased that the work was finally done. Unfortunately Gjetanger died just before I did the finishing touch on the project.

The teacher and author Guri Trygsland mentioned above was the sister of my great-grandfather Søren Trygsland (1878–1967). I have done a great deal of research on Guri's life and work, so I hope to update the article soon. I have also done the needed research on the Norwegian ancestry of Rep. Deb Haaland, so I just have to get my act together and get the work done! The article Norsk prestehistorie (is «History of the Norwegian clergy» a good translation?) is just the first step of transferring the project from the website of the Norwegian Genealogical Society to Slektshistoriewiki. Hopefully I will finish the move during 2019. I was also happy to add more details about the noble family of Mund (which died out in the male line in 1915), especially the cognatic line (non-noble, of course) which still exists today.

By the way, a survey of all my contributions to Slektshistoriewiki can be viewed here. Most of the Slektshistoriewiki articles initiated in 2018 are rather short, but believe me, it takes time to do the research needed, in addition to the writing process.

Still, I am not too satisfied with my «achivements» in 2018. I would like to have done more. Of course I can use my family and work commitments as an excuse (I don't get that much time every day to research and write), but if I could be more disciplined and focus on less projects at a time I should be able to publish more. I have done lots of research during 2018 (as in previous years), but I have too many ongoing projects, and would love to focus more on writing and publising.

This made me thinking! Yes, of couse I will do all the things he mentioned – sort, organize, publish. research, visit a grave – during 2019! But it is the publishing part which is most challenging. I really hope, if my time allows it (here I go again!), to publish more than the two book reviews and thus ad more to my bibliography. The quality is of course more important than the number of publications. But still ... So, what are my publishing plans for 2019? In the late fall of 2018 I was asked to «update» the genealogy of an old Norwegian family of German origin. It will be a time-consuming project which will certainly not be finished in 2019. The question whether I will take on this project or not has not been settled yet. Therefore, in the meantime I am thinking of working on the genealogy of one of the other families I descend from, with the possible publishing date some time in 2020. In addition I am working on a surname project which I think I can be able finish in 2019. My goal is both a printed edition as well as an e-book accessible for members of the Norwegian Genealogy Society. It all depends on what will happen with the old Norwegian family genealogy I mentioned above. Time will show ...

So, what about my blog? Obviously I have made far less updates in 2018 (48) than I did in the first years, but still I am happy with one blog article a week on average. I think I will be satisfied with 48 blog articles in 2019 as well.

The 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State/King) of Malaysia, Muhammad V, Sultan of Kelantan, abdicated today, 6 January 2019. He took office on 13 December 2016 and had therefore close to 3 years left of his term. As I understand it, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, as the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong, will perform the duties of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong until the Conference of Rulers has elected the new king.

My Longest reigns (current monarchs) page has therefore been updated. Obviously the page will soon be updated again after the election has taken place and the new King has taken the oath. The Emperor of Japan, Akihito, has already announced that he will abdicate his throne on 30 April 2019. Hopefully there will be no other changes in the meantime.

26 December 2018

Prince Mihailo and Princess Ljubica of Serbia (Yugoslavia) became parents to baby girl born in Belgrade on 26 December 2018 at 10:15 a.m. According to the Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander, the new princess has received the name Natalija.

Prince Mihailo (Michael), b. 1985, the youngest son of Prince Tomislav (1928–2000) by his 2nd wife Princess Linda, née Bonney, married Ljubica Ljubislavljevic in 2016. Prince Mihailo is a first cousin of Crown Prince Alexander.

This was the second royal birth in Belgrade this year. Prince Philip and Princess Danica, née Marinkovic, became parents to a boy, Stefan, in Belgrade on 25 February 2018. Prince Stefan's christening took place on 15 December 2018 in the Royal Chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called in the Royal Compound in Dedinje, Belgrade. Prince Philip is the second son of Crown Prince Alexander by his first wife Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza.

This blog is written by Dag T. Hoelseth, a Norwegian historian specialising in royal history.
I have a Cand.philol. degree in history from the University of Oslo and graduated in 1997 with the dissertation Det nasjonale kongedømme. Det norske monarkiet 1905-1910, which dealt with the royal election in Norway 1905 and how the new dynasty "became Norwegian".
I am the author of Historisk utredning om Kongehuset, dets apanasjer og disponible statseiendommer, which was published on behalf of the Palace Committee in 2001. The report focused among others on the history of the Norwegian civil list from 1905 to the 1970s as well as the properties the king of Norway has to his disposal.
I have made contributions to several antologies and also written articles for various publications. More often I have operated "behind the scene", consulting newspapers etc. with background information.
Among my other interests are genealogy, Norwegian-American emigration history, US presidential history, traveling, football and ice hockey.